NREX: NRC Robotic Exoskeleton

Abstract

This paper reports the development of a prototype of a novel exoskeleton robot, i.e., National Rehabilitation Center Robotic Exoskeleton, called NREX, which was designed to assist individuals who have sustained neurological impairments such as from stroke and spinal cord injuries. Among the activities of daily living, we focus on reaching and drinking tasks using an upper extremity. For practicality, we only adopt two motors for the wrist and elbow joints, while using passive devices for the other joints. In particular, the wrist motor can manually be adjusted along the internal/external rotation motion for the simple implementation of activities of daily living tasks.